A Braid and an Announcement

   Summer is officially here, y'all. That means HOT weather and looking for ways to get your hair off your neck. One of the quickest ways to do that is with a ponytail. I, however, am not a big fan of ponytails. They're kind of dull and run-of-the-mill. But if you add a braid that changes everything!
   So that's what I've done. I took your everyday ponytail and freshened it up with a four-stranded lace braid. Lace braids were introduced last month in Leia's headband braid. Today's braid uses the same concept but on a four-stranded (4-S)  braid. First I'll tell y'all how to do a basic four-stranded then how to lace 4-S  braid, OK?

To 4-S braid begin by dividing desired amount of hair into 4 equal-ish pieces of hair: 2 middle pieces, a right outside piece, & a left outside piece. Then cross the right outside piece over the closest middle piece and under the next middle piece. The right outside piece now becomes a middle piece. Now take the left outside piece and cross it under the closest middle piece. Then cross it over the next middle piece. The left outside piece now becomes a middle piece as well. Repeat these steps until braid is done.

    Y'all got that? It' basically over, under from one side; then under, over from the other. Now for the ponytail itself!

The 4-S Lace Braided Ponytail 

1- Brush hair and part on the side

2- On the side with more hair, pick up a descent size section of hair and divide into 4 pieces

3- Do the first part of a 4-S braid(see above)

4- Before you cross the new outside piece closest to your face, add some more hair to it. Then continue as before.

5- Repeat step 4 until just past ear

6- If you braided correctly, you should  have one piece of hair that is much smaller than the rest. At this point, add enough hair to it so that it's the same size as the others

7- Now finish with a regular 4-S braid and secure it, along with the rest of your hair, in a ponytail

   

   If you need help, just leave a comment.

   Whew! Now that I'm done with that, on to the announcement!  This summer I'll be taking the three months and spending them entirely on their own topics. For example, July will be Born Again month, and I'll posting only about that topic during July. June and August will be the months for Books and Braids, though I'm not sure which will be which yet. Anyway, thanks for sticking around long enough to read all this.